It’s been in the plans for a long time, and after his latest dominant outing at Triple-A Iowa, Justin Steele will finally be coming back up to the big league club to join the rotation.
Having already shown he could get out big league hitters as a reliever (and then having worked through a hamstring strain), Steele was sent to Iowa to stretch back out as a starter so the Cubs could get a look at him in that capacity in the second half:
Justin Steele will be promoted from Triple A and make his next start vs. Milwaukee at Wrigley Field as part of a 6-man rotation. With so much flexibility in 2022, the Cubs are also making evaluations on Adbert Alzolay and what a next core could look like. https://t.co/XNaOCJF4CB
— Patrick Mooney (@PJ_Mooney) August 7, 2021
Steele, 26, slowly stretched out over the course of five Triple-A starts, posting a 0.87 ERA over that time with 27 Ks (9 BBs, 11 H) in 20.2 innings. He was as absurd in that role at Triple-A as he was as a reliever in the big leagues (2.03 ERA over 13.1 IP, 21 K, 7 BB, 7 H). That doesn’t mean it will immediately translate as a starter, and I have no doubt there is work to be done. But by coming up now and making starts, both he and the Cubs will get some valuable information (and experience) heading into the offseason.
As for the six-man rotation, I kinda love that the Cubs are going that route, all things considered. It’ll protect their pitchers in the post-pandemic season, and it’ll make it even easier to insert Keegan Thompson into the rotation when his time comes.